Tony Schiavone Reveals Tony Khan Favors Encouragement Over Criticism on AEW Headset

Veteran broadcaster Tony Schiavone has pulled back the curtain on what it’s actually like to receive direction from AEW president Tony Khan during live broadcasts — and the picture he paints is one of a boss who leads with positivity rather than pressure.

Appearing on the latest episode of his podcast What Happened When?, Schiavone described how Khan communicates with the commentary team through the headset. Rather than micromanaging every line, Khan tends to feed key talking points and offer enthusiastic reinforcement.

“Well…I don’t know if he would tell me things, other than he’d give me lines to say. ‘This is an incredible match. We’ve got so and so coming out.’ And then a lot of times he’ll coach me up. He’ll say ‘You’re doing a great job, keep it up. Both of you are doing a great job,'” Schiavone explained.

He also recalled a specific moment when Khan singled out both him and fellow commentator Nigel McGuinness for praise. “One time, he told Nigel and me, he said ‘You guys are just doing sensational [work]. Just keep it up.’ And sometimes he’ll say ‘Get the excitement back up! Get the excitement back up!’ because he wants you to be excited. I always think I like to keep the excitement up, but you know what? I don’t mind if he feels I’ve dropped down a little bit to coach me back up, so nothing wrong with that.”

For context, Schiavone drew a clear contrast with what he witnessed during his time in WWE under Vince McMahon. While he noted he was never personally on the receiving end of McMahon’s notoriously intense headset style, he saw enough to know it wouldn’t have suited him.

“I guess it’s well known that when Vince would produce you, he would actually get on your ass,” Schiavone said. “And that wouldn’t work for me. I would not do well with that.”

Schiavone’s candid remarks offer a glimpse into one of the more human aspects of running a live wrestling broadcast — and suggest that Khan’s hands-on yet supportive management style has been a good fit for one of the most experienced voices in the business.